Metal shipping container



9 19360 J. M. HOTHERSALIL METAL SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Feb. 20, 1951WWW? Patented Apr. 7, 1936 UNH'E'E STATES .E TENT METAL SHIPPINGCONTAINER John M. Hothersall, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to American CanCompany, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationFebruary 20, 1931, Serial No. 517,246

Claims. (Cl. 22072) The present invention relates to a metalshipdeveloping a fracture if adjacent a stiff ridge ping container andhas particular reference to or bead in the can wall.

a rectangular container for oil and gasoline and The present inventionrelates to an improved other products which is formed to preventfraccontainer of this general character provided with 5 ture andbuckling of parts during shipment. zones of flexure and one whereincontinuous The principal object of the present invention stiffeningbeads or sharp-cornered wall sections is the provision of a containerhaving rectangular are omitted. This improved container has the flatside wall panels outlined by drawn or pressednecessary panels but itswalls are so formed that out sections of a castellated and indenturedpatthey may be repeatedly flexed without fracture.

tern, these drawn sections, by reason of their Such a container isproperly strengthened to re- 10 shape and relative positions providingafiexibility sist the forces tending to buckle Collapse it in the canwalls which insures a maximum of probut is so designed as to permitmovement of even tection to the container by allowing sloshing of dentedand bent sections without such concenits liquid contents, with itsresulting wall movetration of sharp ben mOVeInentS S to Cause ment,without fracture or buckling. fracture. This will become more evident asthe 15 Numerous other objects of the invention will descriptionproceeds. be apparent as it is better understood from the Such animproved container comprises a recfollowing description, which, taken inconnectangular container body H having side walls I?! tion with theaccompanying drawing, discloses joined by C s 3 produced by the be d apreferred embodiment thereof. of the metal in the formation of thecontainer. 20

Referring to the drawing: The container body it is closed by end membersFigure 1 is a perspective view of a rectangular M secu ed thereto ydouble scontainer embodying the present invention; Each side wall i2 isstruck outwardly in a series Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional viewtaken of projecting tongues it which are arranged 5 substantially alongthe line 22 in Fig. 1; along the margin of the side and around a centralFig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the side walls p el The Outer fecesof the p j s i5 of the container being taken substantially along are ina single plane, as illustrated in Fig. 3,

the line 3-3 in Fig. 1; and Which is spaced slightly beyond the outerface Fig. 4 is a similar section taken substantially f the panel W Thesep ect ons 5 lie along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1. closely adjacent oneanother and form an in- 30 The shipment of oil products by boat is alarge dentured pattern having zones of fleXure interindustry and a,favorite package for the product mediate thereof. This constructionstrengthens is a rectangular, relatively light gage sheet metal thecorners It in a vertical direction and provides container usually offive-gallon capacity. Such a flexing 0r y e d g characteristic to theentire a container preferably has its side walls paneled Wall structure.35 to enhance its appearance and to provide space Each end l4 may bereinforced by a series of for labels, stickers, etc., and decorativeembellishp ct ng panels ll of suitable configu ation, the t outer facesof which lie in one plane as shown in The swaying motion of the ship,loaded with g- 2 a these o allow fie -g throughout these containers,piled one on top of the other Without sharp bends. 40

and often in several layers in the hold of the This construction of thecontainer permits Vessel, causes considerable sloshing andsplashstacking one o top of another and their recing of the liquidcontents against the interior tangular form affords close packingwithout walls of containers. waste space. The patterned side walls canyield This results in repeated flexing of the container under theswaying motion of the ship and diagon- 45 walls and a bending back andforth of the metal a1, vertical and horizontal thrusts imposedtherethereof. Such repeated bending of the metal if by are readilycompensated by the proper body concentrated adjacent a sharp edge as ofa bead movement. There being o sharp stiff edges nor or sharp-cornereddrawn section, often causes lines of fold along which flexing of themetal is a fracture at that point permitting the liquid concentrated,the dangers of fractures and 50 contents to run out and become lost andat the buckling are eliminated. same time establishing a fire andexplosive haz- The containers may be filled in any suitable ard. Thesefractures are particularly prevalent manner, a filling opening [8 formedin the top at parts of the can which may have become end being used forthis purpose. This may be dented or bent in handling, such a dent soonclosed in the usual way by a soldered cap. 55

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A rectangular sheet metal container the side walls of which areembossed inwardly to form a central panel, leaving outwardly raisedmarginal portions, and, extending from said marginal portions toward themiddle of the pane1, spaced-apart projections which remain in the planeof the marginal portions and have between them depressed parts which arein the plane of the panel, thereby making discontinuous the edges of thepanels and strengthening the side walls of the container againstfracture along said edges.

2. A rectangular container of sheet metal comprising, a body having aplurality of side walls, ends secured to said body, the material of theside walls being bent at intervals adjacent the vertical corners of thecontainer to provide a central side wall panel and pressed side walledge portions separated from each other and closely spaced together andforming an indentured pattern, the outwardly pressed parts of thepattern merging into the corner portions, and the inwardly pressed partsmerging into the central part of the wall.

3. A rectangular container comprising a body having a plurality of sidewalls and ends secured to said body, the marginal portion of said sidewalls adjacent and between its corner portions being pressed inwardly atspaced intervals to provide a pattern integral with and extendinginwardly of the body wall and the outer portion of said pattern merginginto the plane of the side walls to provide a predetermined zone offiexure.

4. A rectangular container comprising a body having a plurality of sidewalls and ends double seamed to the side walls, said side walls beingpressed into an inwardly projecting marginal cas'tellated and indenturedpattern integral with and disposed adjacent the vertical and horizontalcorners and the double seamed ends, the outer portion of said patternbeing in the plane of the body wall, to allow for flexing movement ofthe body Wall and to prevent concentration of rupturing strains andsharp bending of the metal thereof.

5. A rectangular metal container the side walls of which are formed witha central panel, and series of inwardly projecting tongues spaced apartand surrounding the panel and constituting an integral part thereof, thebases of said tongues being merged with and in the plane of the metal ofthe corner portions of the container, to strengthen the corners and giveflexibility to the walls, and guard against fracture.

JOHN M. HOTHERSALL.

